Player Ratings: Atletico Madrid 1-1 Real Madrid
A late goal from Karim Benzema salvages a point for Real Madrid and keeps his team in the title race.
Real Madrid got off to a poor start with Luis Suarez giving the hosts the lead after just 15 minutes. Things could’ve gotten worse for Real Madrid with Courtois being forced into a number of saves throughout the first-half. On the stroke of half-time, Real Madrid were screaming for a penalty when the ball hit Felipe’s arm inside the six-yard box. VAR deemed it a penalty but referee Hernandez Hernandez thought otherwise.
Atletico started off the second-half just like they started the first and would’ve doubled their lead had it not been for Courtois. With 10 minutes remaining, Real Madrid came close to equalising through Benzema after a great pass from Vinicius but Oblak was on hand to save. Karim Benzema finally levelled in the 88th minute, combining with Casemiro to earn a vital point for Real Madrid and keep their title hopes alive. These are our player ratings:
Starting XI:
Thibaut Courtois: 9/10
Real Madrid’s saviour once again. The Belgian made countless saves to deny Atletico Madrid the opportunity to increase their lead. Los Blancos wouldn’t have earned a draw without him.
Lucas Vazquez: 7/10
Atleti’s Carrasco gave Lucas all sorts of problems and the Spaniard didn’t quite know how to handle him in the first-half. Lucas’ performance greatly improved in the second-half especially in the attacking side of things as Real Madrid looked for an equaliser.
Raphael Varane: 6/10
Facing an in-form Suarez is no easy task and Varane wasn’t quite up to it in the first-half. The Frenchman lost the Uruguayan striker for Atletico’s opening goal and didn’t look comfortable out there on the field.
Nacho: 7/10
Ferland Mendy: 6/10
Toni Kroos: 8/10
Toni Kroos set the tempo for Real Madrid despite Atletico outnumbering the Whites in midfield. The German did well to find pockets of space and his ball distribution was as good as always.
Casemiro: 8/10
Another fantastic performance from Casemiro. The Brazilian was unfortunate not to have been awarded a penalty after a Felipe handball denied him the opportunity to score following a corner. Assisted Benzema for the equaliser very late on.
Luka Modric: 7/10
An unusually quite performance from Modric. Atletico knew the threat that the Croatian possesses and did well to stop him stamping his authority on the game.
Marco Asensio: 6/10
Karim Benzema: 7/10
Rodrygo: 5/10
Valverde: 7/10 – Came on to replace Asensio. The Uruguayan helped Real Madrid win the midfield battle and his energy was key to Los Blancos’ improvement in the second-half.
Vinicius Jr: 7/10 – Came on to replace Rodrygo. Vinicius added speed and directness to Real Madrid’s attack and would’ve had an assist had it not been for a great save from Jan Oblak to deny Benzema.
